


Queen of Hearts and Bullets

by Dragonie



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gift Fic, That's My Brand Now I Guess, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 07:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11846901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonie/pseuds/Dragonie
Summary: Even after Hoover Dam, Lexi stayed in Vegas to help her girlfriend, Courier Mary, run the place. But sometimes, a girl's just gotta get out of the city and taste the open roads. Luckily, Mary's prepared to meet her halfway.Gift fic for my dear friends instishoot and fraenkysjunk!





	Queen of Hearts and Bullets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SkyMagpie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyMagpie/gifts).



                A gust of wind blew across the dunes, kicking up the dust as the first rays of golden light peeked out from the eastern horizon. Cirrus clouds floated lazily overhead, painted gold and pink with the dawn. The last stars of the morning still shone in the lightening sky; brightest must be Venus, she thought, if that astronomy book she’d picked up back in REPCONN wasn’t steering her wrong. Vegas lights below were brighter still, the city in a hubbub even at this time of morning. A coyote’s mournful howl echoed through the air, carried on the breeze from somewhere far in the distance.

                 Sitting on a lonely hillside around the lower slopes of Mount Charleston, Lexi pulled her favourite jacket tighter against the early morning chill, felt cool condensation from the sarsaparilla bottle wet her fingers. Her bike was propped up against a nearby rock face; painted on its side was a wild mustang, galloping across the plains. Her pride and joy; she’d spent _ages_ painstakingly building it, looting every busted old motorbike she could find for working parts, scouring Mick and Ralph’s for scrap, enlisting Raul’s help in fitting together some of the trickier bits. And then, when she was finally finished, she did it all again, because Mary’s eyes had shined at the sight of it and she wanted to give her girlfriend something nice. Maybe when the Mojave had calmed down a little, and Mary wasn’t so busy, they could do a road trip somewhere. Head to the coast, perhaps, see the great big ocean, ride the highways with the wind on their faces and the sun on their backs and free, gloriously free.

                Lexi opened the bottle of sarsaparilla, checked under the lid out of habit, took a swig of two-hundred-year-old soda. Wasn’t likely to happen any time soon – kicking out both the NCR and the Legion from the Mojave had left a hell of a power vacuum, one that Mary had both hands full trying to fill – but a woman could dream. Hell, even _this_ woman could, now.

                Sun poked its head up over the horizon, making her squint as its golden light hit her eyes. It felt peaceful at this time, war or no, when the Mojave woke from its slumber; good to get out of the city, too, out into the desert amid the cacti and the Joshua trees. Feel sand beneath her boots again, see the trail stretch out in front of her under wide open skies. Watch the sun rise and set in the crisp morning air, not through the dingy glass of the Lucky 38 cocktail lounge.

                Light poured over the flatlands and the hills, revealing splashes of vibrant colour over the rock and sand. Spring brought life even to this wasteland, despite the bombs, despite the wars. Flowers of all colours bloomed, stretching eager petals towards the sun: the cheery yellow of barrel cacti, agave, and creosote bushes; the brilliant pink of prickly pears and foxtail cacti; the sensuous red of mound cacti; the gentle sky-blue of desert larkspurs; the rich midnight purple of indigo bushes; the stately cream of banana yuccas and Joshua trees; all coming together as if to banish the barrenness of the past year and draw a rainbow upon the earth.

                New Vegas didn’t look so bad from up here, either, she reckoned, its flashing neon lively and welcoming. City was like a rattlesnake: had a certain kind of beauty, but one best appreciated from a distance. Over a half-decade, now, since she last had a place to call home; still getting used to it, tell the truth. It wasn’t even the place, really; wasn’t the lights of Vegas that drew her back like a magnet every time. “Home is where the heart is,” some said, and both meant Mary to her, and so long as Mary stayed in Vegas, back to Vegas she’d always come.

                Had to get out now and then, though; couldn’t stand being cooped up in one place forever, not even for her. Lexi was a woman of the open roads at heart, after all. Mary understood that, bless her; let her love her and still stay free. Repaid her by patrolling the desert, taking down raiders and slavers, being the vigilant guardian of the Mojave and all the people within its – Mary’s – borders.

                She smiled fondly to herself, took another sip, watched the sky change colour, the stars vanish in the light, the creosote bushes sway in the gentle wind. Sun would be fully up soon; she’d have to get going soon if she wanted to make Freeside before the noonday sun scorched the sands, but there was still a little more time to enjoy the peace and the sky and the flowers before plunging back into the bustle and buildings of Vegas once more.

                The harsh rev of a motorcycle split the air, shocking Lexi to no end. Only one other working bike she knew of in the whole Mojave, and she’d put it together herself. She scrambled to her feet, peering down the trail – and sure enough, a _very_ familiar figure rode into sight, kicking up a dust trail, coming to a screeching halt (she still hadn’t quite got the hang of braking properly) close by.

                “Thought I’d find you up here,” Mary called out with a laugh, as she swung herself off the motorbike – painted with a pattern of roses, at her insistence – and walked over to her girlfriend. They’d been together for a while now, but the sight of her always took Lexi’s breath away. She was resplendent in an off-the-shoulder top and a scarlet skirt, the elegant look contrasted by the pistol strapped to her hip in case of trouble in the wastes. “Trouble” was only likely to come in the form of beasts or mutants, these days; tales of her had spread the Mojave by now, and there were few left foolish enough to dare tangling with the Queen of New Vegas. With her long, fiery hair rippling in the breeze, she looked like some beautiful, powerful goddess of the dawn, descended from her throne.

                This particular goddess, oddly enough, carried what looked very much like a picnic basket under one arm.

                “Mary!” A grin split Lexi’s face, her eyes lighting up.

                “Hey, Lexi!” Mary smiled and waved back, white teeth against red lips. “Miss me?” She plonked the picnic basket down as Lexi scrambled down the hillside to meet her.

                “‘Course I did.” Lexi pulled the smaller woman into her arms, hugged her tight, picked her up and twirled her around, making her laugh. Mary cupped her face in both hands when she set her down again, kissed Lexi long and tender. Lexi responded eagerly, holding her lover tight, twining her fingers through silky strands of hair, feeling gentle hands on her cheeks, soft lips on hers.

                “You taste like sarsaparilla, you know that?” Mary laughed, wiping a smudge of her crimson lipstick from Lexi’s mouth.

                “How’d you know where I was?” Lexi asked with a contented sigh, leaning her cheek into Mary’s hands, turning her head to plant a soft kiss on her girlfriend’s palm. “Meant to surprise you.”

                Mary grinned mischievously.

                “Come on, Tyrannosaurus Lex–” Lexi snorted fondly at Mary’s nickname, a teasing comment on her height – “give a girl _some_ credit. My sources in Jacobstown radioed me, said you were seen heading back through there.”

                Of course, thought Lexi. Should’ve known better than to think she could surprise a woman who sat atop the kind of information network that made Inculta look like a rank amateur.

                “So, what, you had your sources follow me just so you could turn the surprise around?” She laughed, nuzzling her face into Mary’s hair, smelling the floral perfume that Mary hoarded whenever she could find, sweet as any cactus blossom.

                “No, it’s just my inner Lexi-detector,” Mary giggled, sticking out her tongue, tracing the lines of the gecko tattoo on Lexi’s forearm with teasing fingers. “Don’t you remember? You dragged me all the way out here the morning after our second time together just to show me the sunrise.”

                “Wasn’t sure if you remembered,” Lexi chuckled. “Or wanted to remember, seeing as how you spent the whole way there grumbling about being woken before dawn.”

                “Well,” Mary grabbed her hand, squeezed it. “I got up of my own volition this time, so you’d better be grateful!” She laughed, picked up the picnic basket, pulled Lexi along by the arm to her spot further up the hill. “I might’ve made it a bit too late to watch the sunrise, but I thought we might have a nice breakfast here anyway. I packed Fancy Lads,” she winked.

                In a sudden move, Lexi lifted the smaller woman into her arms – drawing out a surprised squeal – and carried her, bridal style, to the most comfortable spot she could find on the dusty hillside. She set Mary down gently, and seated herself behind, her arms around her lover’s waist, her face nestled into the crook of Mary’s neck, trailing kisses along her throat and shoulders. Mary laughed and squirmed under her lips, reached a hand around to run long fingers over the short bristles of Lexi’s hair.

                “Missed me that much, huh?”

                “More.” Lexi buried her face in Mary’s shoulder, felt the warmth of bare skin against her cheek, the soft heat of her in her strong arms. Didn’t need to say anything more, just sat there, holding her, the two of them watching the sun climb lazily higher in the sky, the breeze shake the needlegrass and desert blossoms, the sand dance and play over the dunes, and the flashing lights of Vegas far below.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is for my beloved friends instishoot and fraenkysjunk on Tumblr! Go check out their jawdropping, amazing artwork immediately! Go!


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